Pad what numbers????????
None of them had draft worthy numbers last night in the scoring column
What a really idiotic statement
Yeah there were questionable shots and offensive moves but if you are going to dis the one shot DHam missed what about the one he made from the parking lot?
Say what you want, this team takes too many shots outside the rhythm of the game, and in my opinion, it's because there are players on the team that are sometimes concerned with keeping their stats up or being "the guy", rather than worried about winning a basketball game as a team. Not to say they don't want to win, but they want to be the one who "wins" the game. They don't think about it that way, but they make decisions like that's the case when we have a lead. I don't blame them, and I don't think they can help it.
Think about the motivations here. These guys have lives completely focused on using their career at UConn as a launching pad to fame. That can be extremely poisonous. It was very likely this would happen, when we have three guys who transferred in who were told throughout their careers they were "the guy", and you have Hamilton who was going to be "the guy" this year. If three of them can't become role players, that will cause issues. Shonn Miller is the only one playing through the offense effectively. It's not like the coaching staff doesn't see this, that is why Purvis has started coming off the bench and Gibbs has seen more minutes at SG with Adams at the point.
Teams like the ones with Shabazz and Kemba that made runs and won titles did it because during the tournaments, they had one insanely efficient star player, and role players that all fell in line behind them. You had one go-to guy, and 6 or 7 guys who wanted to win, and only win. This team has 3 guys who want to be the star, but aren't quite good enough to do it. And instead of having a central piece to build around, and solid role players, you have guys who are too concerned with their usage and get in their own way. That's why you see flashes in big games of a team that has all the talent that we do, and can demolish just about anyone, and then a team that dribbles too much, no one moves without the ball, and heaves 3's with 3 seconds on the shot clock.
Most of our offensive problems stem from this:
Lack of FTs
Low possession counts
Low PPS
Building leads and letting them slip
Low assist numbers
It all comes back to the mentality of the players on the court. Either that, or Shonn Miller is the best 3 point shooter on the team.
Here's some efficiency stats for you to further prove the point:
1. Shonn Miller: 26.86 PER, 17.3 USG
(SMU has five players between these two)
2. Daniel Hamilton: 20.38 PER, 21.4 USG (highest usage on the team)
3. Kentan Facey 18.74 PER, 11.8 USG
4. Rodney Purvis 17.02 PER, 20.5 USG (second highest usage on the team)
5. Sterling Gibbs 15.78 PER 16.4 USG (this is like a Tulane level efficiency/usg ratio - meaning, if your players are going about things like this, you will lose a lot. That's how basketball works.)
I promise if we had the ability to break down efficiency and usage by game situations where we were leading, you would see huge increases in the usage by Hamilton, Purvis, and Gibbs, and a big drop in efficiency. In summary, Gibbes, Purvis, and Hamilton, in that order, need to think about how they make the team better and worse with every play. 35 foot heaves, whether they happen to go in or not, are not good basketball plays. Unless your name is Stephen Curry.
